Star Wars

I’m tired and I’m ready for bed.

This evening we went to see the latest Star Wars movie, ostensibly the last in the ‘series’ of nine that began in 1977.

Don’t worry; no need for any spoiler alerts. I’m not intending to reveal anything substantive.

The Illusion of Time

I just want to declare how weird it felt. It was almost as if I could bi-locate and imagine myself sitting in the theater where I saw the first Star Wars back in August 1977. I was in Monroeville, with my brother and his family. I’d just arrived home from a year abroad in Sweden and was about to head off to my freshman year at Penn State.

Here I was, a lifetime later, in a theater with one of my grown sons sitting beside me. And not only have some characters in the movie aged appropriately, but I have too. And even more surreal, my son is actually just a couple years shy of being twice as old as I was when I saw that first movie.

It’s just all so weird.

Yes, I keep using the same lame description for what I’m feeling. But throughout the 2 hour and 22 minute movie, I found myself slipping out of linear time and looking at everything from a different perspective. In some ways, so much has changed since 1977 and in others we are pathetically mired in the same old junk.

One Thing

There was one thing that stood out to me. When I watched the first Star Wars, I felt such a distinct and powerful connection to the whole concept of The Force. I just knew it was real. And I was absolutely convinced that somehow, some way, I would learn about The Force, quite possibly even learn how to consciously work with it myself.

Little did I know.

Or maybe – just maybe – the more appropriate expression is, “Wow, we really are being given an opportunity to LIVE THIS. Right now.”

What a wild time to be alive.

I know; it’s just a dumb movie. But all of this feels bigger than just a movie. Unfortunately, I’m having a hard time articulating precisely what I mean by that this evening.

Maybe I’ll have another go at it some other day.

(T-705)